Thomson

It’s a heck of a way to run a pre-election campaign. On the eve of an expected election, politicians usually spend their time playing up good news, downplaying the bad, shaking hands and kissing babies.

Edmonton couple’s love story began with divine intervention

Random meeting ended in Hawrelak Park nuptials

Newlyweds Adam and Sarah Beasley share a playful moment.

Photograph by: Michel Feist
, edmontonjournal.com

EDMONTON - The random nature of how Adam Beasley met Sarah Yoo in the summer of 2010 hints at a bit of divine intervention. Adam was told about a meeting to discuss a potential job opportunity through someone who was little more than an acquaintance. Sarah, meanwhile, found out about the same meeting when she went to a coffee shop she had never been to before and became engaged in small talk with a stranger.

Neither Adam nor Sarah needed a job — she was in marketing, he was in graphic design and film — but they were curious, even so. And so it was that they found themselves seated next to one another on folding chairs in a house full of people, listening to an Amway sales pitch.

“Neither of us had any idea that that’s what it was about until we got there,” laughs Sarah, now 29.

Later, Adam told Sarah that when he looked over and saw her his “heart jumped.” She had no idea she had had such an impact on him, a state of oblivion that persisted for months.

She thought theirs was a friendship, that the subsequent emails and messages on Facebook amounted to nothing more than an exchange of ideas and information. She was interested in purchasing TV-quality equipment for her job. He had the knowledge and the expertise.

“We had exchanged business cards at the meeting, and I thought it was all about work stuff,” she says. “He had other things in mind.”

Indeed. To hear Adam tell it, he knew he was in love with her practically right away, and knew three months into their relationship that he wanted to propose to her. For Sarah’s part, it took her a while to realize they were even in a relationship.

“I didn’t want to assume anything,” she says now, laughing sheepishly. “I’m very reserved, and I didn’t want him to think I thought he was pursuing me. Ultimately, I was trying to treat him as a friend and grow a friendship.”

Finally, even she could see there was something more; something that couldn’t be ignored.

“I felt like I’d known him forever,” says Sarah. “We had so many of the same interests, even the things we like to do for leisure ­—mountain-biking, rock-climbing. I had never met anyone who gelled with me on so many levels.”

Things moved along quickly after that, culminating in a proposal nearly a year later during a trip to New York City and a visit to the Top of the Rock at the famed 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

While Sarah examined a map of the city and started pointing out the landmarks below, Adam fumbled for the jacket into which he had asked his mother to sew a pocket to hide the engagement ring. He had to call Sarah’s name a couple of times to get her attention but when she finally turned away from the map and back to Adam, he was on bended knee, an engagement ring box in his hand.

“The expression on her face was pure shock,” recalls Adam, 26. “She cried. I cried. I stumbled through my speech, and she said ‘yes!’ It was definitely an experience we’ll never forget.”

The couple got married last September at the Hawrelark Park amphitheatre, a DIY event that involved friends and family.

“We really wanted an outdoor venue that could fit 500 people,” says Sarah. “My parents are very closely connected to the Korean community in Edmonton and invited everyone, so we wanted to make sure we’d be safe if the weather wasn’t ideal — hence the benefit of having a built-in tented venue.”

In the end, they didn’t need it. Despite an iffy forecast, the sun shone brightly and everything went off without a hitch. For Adam and Sarah, the day was everything they hoped it would be.

“We were so grateful for all the love and support we received,” says Sarah, “and were so overwhelmed with how many friends and family came in from so far away to celebrate with us. It was just amazing.”

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